Home of the Dragon’s twin battle perfects the ‘Who do I shoot?’ scene

Home of the Dragon season 1 shocked Sport of Thrones followers who weren’t properly versed in George R.R. Martin’s Fireplace & Blood with the introduction of its two most complicated characters but: Ser Arryk Cargyll and Ser Erryk Cargyll.

In an effort to imitate historical past and keep a way of actuality, Martin has gleefully named key characters in Westeros with the identical names or variants based mostly on household. However Arryk and Erryk, being twin members of the Kingsguard with practically the identical title, have been a next-level troll. Fortunately, actors Luke and Elliott Tittensor — sure, they’re actual twins, no CG required — gave them vivid personalities that made their cut up between the Greens and Blacks all of the extra gut-wrenching. Then season 2 upped the ante.

[Ed. note: This story contains major spoilers for the end of House of the Dragon season 2 episode 2.]

In season 1, Arryk and Erryk have been brothers and allies whose earlier missions included finding the twerp Aegon in episode 9. However as Queen Alicent and her father, Ser Otto Hightower, pulled strings to place Aegon in energy and bump out Princess Rhaenyra from her place as inheritor to the throne, Arryk and Erryk drifted aside. They each appeared to agree Ser Criston Cole is a nimrod — goal reality? — however after butting heads over loyalties, Erryk helped Rhaenys escape King’s Touchdown, whereas Arryk remained to serve Aegon. Season 2 finds them on reverse sides of the brewing battle, and Arryk makes one of many worst calls ever: When Criston guilt journeys him over the demise of li’l Jaehaerys, the dual soldier units off to assassinate Rhaenyra and inevitably confront his bro.

Errors have been made — however Arryk’s fateful fuck-up leads to one in every of my favourite battle sequences of both Sport of Thrones sequence. The scene kicks into excessive gear as Arryk strides, with the boldness of an undercover twin, as much as the guard defending Rhaenyra’s room. Assuming Erryk’s id, Arryk tells the person on obligation to take a break. Word to self: Don’t belief a twin who desires you to stroll away from the job! Fortunately, because of his twindar (and perhaps the White Worm), Erryk exhibits up simply as Arryk prepares to strike down Rhaenyra in her mattress. The brawl begins, and it’s pure chaos. A number of beats later, one other of Rhaenyra’s males actually exclaims, as he should, “Which one is Erryk?!”

Picture: Max

There are only some circumstances that may result in a basic “Which one do I shoot?!” impostor second, and even fewer that conjure the visceral confusion of what Home of the Dragon director Clare Kilner achieves in episode 2. Usually, when there’s a shape-shifter in play, we get a minimum of a burst of hero-on-fake-hero motion — Mystique’s battle with Wolverine within the 2000 X-Males being among the best, although it ends along with her reworking again into her blue self, after which into Storm as a means of escaping the brawl. Precise “Which one do I shoot?!” scenes find yourself being quite chill, so the villain doesn’t present their hand. T-1000 impersonating Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day is high-tension however low-key, as Pretend Sarah Connor begs for John’s assist simply as Actual Sarah Connor walks across the nook and blasts him from behind. (Terminator Genisys has an identical scene involving Kyle Reese, which does power younger Sarah Connor to truly determine which one to shoot, however, uh, perhaps watch Terminator 2 if you happen to want a molten metallic doppelganger repair.)

Whereas I recognize Buzz snuffing out his personal Evil Buzz in Toy Story 2, the apex of lookalike-on-lookalike motion in movie has to go to James Wong’s The One, which put the multiverse to good use by pitting an evil Jet Li towards himself. For 2001, all of the sequences wherein Li fights himself — by physique doubles, face alternative, digital compositing, and a lot of different strategies that contain punching tennis balls — are distinctive, showcasing numerous martial arts strategies enhanced with multiversal superpowers. Even the behind-the-scenes documentaries of how they did it rock:

However there’s a transparent benefit to having two bodily warriors on set in a position to duke it out, and Kilner takes full benefit. When Arryk and Erryk start whacking the crap out of one another, the digicam drifts away from the fight to choose up the worry on Rhaenyra’s face, resulting in deliberately convoluted motion geography. A scene that’s meant for a pure adrenaline rush may showcase the sword swings and defensive kicks to make sure, even whereas carrying comparable period-appropriate armor, the gamers are identifiable. There are a couple of tells within the battle that viewers may attempt to cling to — Erryk will get his leg slashed early on, and it might be a inform, if any shot held for lengthy sufficient. However Kilner amplifies the disorienting impact of two twins preventing by breaking the 180-degree rule, bouncing between angles that received’t cohere for the mind. It’s the medieval motion equal of a ball-and-cup trick.

The brawl leaves the spectators with no true clue of who received, a beat that left me gasping for air. Even moments after watching it, I wasn’t fully certain Arryk prevailed over Erryk… but it surely in the end didn’t matter. One twin dying meant each twins needed to go, for honor. The battle ends in Targaryen suicide, one other tragedy on prime of a tragedy. Whereas I’m unhappy to see the twins go from the sequence, it additionally looks like historical past — I’m undecided the celebs will align for such a charming “Which one do I shoot?!” scene ever once more.